In a principal aspect, the present invention relates to an improved oil filter removal tool for removing the oil filter from an internal combustion engine. Specifically, such a tool is designed for use on an oil filter that is located within the oil pan, and is useable on a multitude of internal combustion engines constructed by different manufacturers. Most commonly, such a tool is used in connection with the service and maintenance of certain automobiles manufactured by General Motors which contain the oil filter in the oil pan.
A particular problem associated with removing oil filters that are located within the oil pan from internal combustion engines, especially in automobiles, is that of working in tight spaces. In other words, to remove an oil filter from an automobile engine usually requires that a special tool be used to remove the oil filter, enabling the user to obtain torque on the oil filter cap to twist it off and remove it from the oil pan of the automobile engine.
A problem thus associated with oil filter removal tools that precede the present invention is that they are bulky and difficult to use in tight spaces. This problem has become particularly more acute as automobile engines become more sophisticated and more powerful, while the automobiles bodies into which these engines are placed become smaller and more compact. This makes for tighter engine compartments in which the automobile owner or mechanic must work.
An even more particular problem associated with the use of oil filter removal tools is that created by increasingly sophisticated engine design. Many engines today are constructed to operate at higher temperatures and pressure, and therefore require that the motor oil be changed more frequently. For example, the relatively recent trend toward diesel engines carries with it the increased need for oil changes, as these diesel engines operate at nearly three times the compression ratio of the more common Otto cycle engines, and, correspondingly, operate at higher temperatures, as well.
Moreover, an increasing number of automobiles today carry, as a power improvement apparatus, a turbine supercharger. These turbine superchargers, or "turbochargers", compress the ambient air by means of a turbine compressor which is driven by the exhaust of the engine. The turbocharger thus enables a greater amount of air and fuel to be forced into the internal combustion engine. Turbochargers are commonly employed on both gasoline and diesel engines. These apparatus, too, increase the operating pressure and temperature of the engine and consequently increase the frequency of oil changes.
Typically oil filters that are contained within the oil pan are changed by providing access to the oil pan through the lower portion of the automobile engine. Thus, the oil filter is reachable from underneath the car rather than from above it. This has become increasingly difficult, however, as many automobiles now offer much more sophisticated chassis and suspension systems. For example, the use of multiple shock absorbers per wheel, multiple anti-roll or anti-sway bars, four wheel independent suspension, and rack and pinion steering has created a multitude of parts located underneath the engine compartment through which it is very difficult to reach the engine itself. Moreover, there is an increasing trend toward front wheel and all wheel drive automobiles, in which the drive train also impairs access to the internal combustion engine from underneath the car.
Yet another problem in performing oil changes is encountered in connection with certain utility vehicles, such as four wheel drive pickups and carryalls, as well as some automobiles. More specifically, when protective plating is provided under the engine compartment to minimize damage from rocks, etc. striking the vehicle undercarriage, access to the oil pan is even more difficult.
To minimize these problems and provide an oil filter screw cap that can be removed from the oil pan without special tooling, General Motors has offered a screw cap having at its center a hexagonal nut head. This hexagonal shaped protrusion, embossed into the cap, is constructed and arranged to provide means for removing the cap by use of a standard socket or wrench. This solution to these problems is not satisfactory, however, as the hexagonal shaped protrusion typically is less than one inch in diameter and is driven to remove a screw cap having a thread pattern typically exceeding three inches in diameter. Thus, a great deal of torque is loaded onto the hexagonal protrusion, eventually rounding its corners to more circular dimensions.
Thus, an even more particular problem arises when the hexagonal protrusion is deformed. Insufficient torque can be applied to the protrusion to remove the screw cap, and hence, the screw cap cannot be removed.
Thus, a need has arisen for an oil filter removal tool that can outwardly engage the periphery of the screw cap, applying a force at a greater working diameter and effecting greater torque. Moreover, a need has arisen for an oil filter removal tool that will not deform any feature of the screw cap. Finally, the special needs created by all of the problems preexisting the development of the General Motors screw cap having a central hexagonal protrusion are still existent, and must be overcome by any successful oil filter removal tool to be developed.
In these aforementioned situations as well as others, the ability to change an oil filter located with the oil pan has become more complex. Removal of the filter can be frustrating and difficult, and is usually the most time consuming step in performing an oil change. This increased difficulty, in combination with the increasing frequency of oil changes, thus defines a long felt and unsolved need which has arisen for an oil filter removal tool that is compact and requires minimal operating room.
The present invention constitutes an improved oil filter removal tool for use with an internal combustion engine that seeks to overcome these problems, while at the same time providing a simple, easily constructed design that is readily adapted to a variety of automobiles having oil filters contained within the oil pan, and can address all of the aforementioned problems.